A Paper
by Seiki1
Summary: I promised nothing :P ~ Naelia is a sophmore girl who believes what she feels is right. ~and the story goes on. This is not a Christian or Anti-Christian basher thing. I'm not even Christian. ^.~
1. Assignment

"A Paper…" - Ch. 1: Assignment

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Prologue

A paper… about anything that you desire. This is your first assignment for creative writing class this semester. 

Six hundred... sixty six...

This... this is terrible. You cannot write a paper on this! Do something else or you'll fail this assignment... and the class!

__

You claim you're all so... righteous.

I thought... A paper? Anything I desire? I'll pass this easily. There is... one thing... I'm very passionate about...

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MH Lutheran Church

"Helen, Helen! Hey!" One of the dirty-haired twins, Mary, poked the girl sitting in the bench in front of her.

The girl turned, looking a little annoyed at the boring lecture the pastor was giving. Helen had jaw-length blonde hair and rosy cheeks. Her eyes were bright blue and she wore all sorts of weird jewelry from... maybe Wal*Mart. Her bangs always hung in her eyes. She blew them away. "Hm?"

"Where's Naelia? I miss her! I haven't seen her for like... a year. Do you guys still go to the same school?" Mary asked wide-eyed. It was apparent she had been reminiscing or something in the midst of her boredom. Church was best only when they were singing. She loved that.

Helen blinked and hesitated. "You wouldn't want to see her."

"Why not?" Mary asked. This caught Julie, the other twin's attention.

"She's some sort of messed up Satanist or something now." Helen shrugged and turned around.

Julie sighed. "That doesn't matter. I miss her too. I want to see her."

The twins' parents shot a glare at them. They both sort of edged in their seats, knowing that their mother was listening to them now. Julie didn't seem to care, but Mary looked very nervous and kept the conversation down to a whisper. They tugged on Helen's hair to regain her attention, and succeeded in gaining it. 

"So... she's really a Satanist?" Mary asked cautiously.

"Well... sort of." Helen replied. "I know a lot about other religions, and I wouldn't exactly call her a real Satanist... but she always argues with people about the Bible from Satan's side or something. I usually don't pay attention to her because I'm strong in my faith and--"

"Bring her anyway!" Julie whispered loudly, cutting Helen off. "Ask her if she'll come."

"Tell her we miss her." Mary added.

Helen turned around. "Fine, fine, now shut up. I'm trying to catch up on some sleep."

The twins giggled and sat back.

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John F. Kennedy Public School

Helen jumped through the crowded hallways trying to catch up to that familiar redhead friend of hers. She pushed he way through people in the hallways who liked to stand and talk in front of the door for fun. Once she caught up, she took her shoulder and spun her around. "Hey! Don't even say good morning!" She put a sarcastically upset face on.

The girl slightly bowed her head and let out an exasperated sigh. "Good morning, Helen."

"I copied that one CD for Danielle by the way." Helen said, continuing down the hallway by the girl's side.

The girl grunted and studied the ground, thoughtfully. "I was going to get around to that... Yesterday, she came over and I showed her that sound thing on my computer." 

Helen slumped. "Real specific, Naelia."

The girl shrugged. "It's the sound recorder thing. Every windows has one." She took a breath in and looked back ahead of her. "Remember last summer? I turned Duvet from Lain backwards and burned it onto a CD. You and me listened to it when we went to my cabin, remember?" Helen nodded. "I showed her that."

"Oh..." Helen paused. "Oh! I almost forgot! Speaking of your _twisted_ little satanic music, I went to church yesterday and Mary and Julie say they miss you."

She turned her head and wrinkled her eyebrows. "Who?"

"Mary and Julie..." Helen said in a 'duh' sort of fashion and perked an eyebrow. 

Naelia took a moment to try to let the names regain familiarity, but she couldn't remember those names for the life of her. She gave her blonde friend a look that clearly told her just to get to the point and describe the two faces behind the names so she could remember.

"The twins..." Helen urged on.

Well that cleared it up. "Oh! Them! I remember them." She adjusted her fifty-pound bag and gasped a little at the pressure on a bruise, squeezing her eyes shut. Before she could open her eyes, the blonde girl took her wrist and led her to her locker. 

"My locker first. It's closer." Helen started spinning the dial. "Anyway, they want you to come to church," She pulled her locker open. Naelia made a face. "But! I told them you were some sort of messed up satanic freak." She removed her coat and stuffed it into her miniature locker.

The dark red haired girl's eyebrow twitched and she leaned against the surrounding lockers. "Thank you for the kind description."

"Mmhm. They said they want you to come to youth group anyway. Just because they miss you." She shrugged and grabbed a few books out of the locker.

Naelia pushed herself away from the lockers. "Hell no! Tell them I'll find them outside of church."

Helen slammed her locker shut. "How are you going to do that? They live in Eden Prairie!"

"I don't care. I'm not going to church!" She started heading for her own locker, Helen following close behind. Naelia quickened her pace.

"Oh, come on! You don't have to sing or anything. We can roam the hallways. And we never do anything in the youth group meetings anyway! I bet they won't even mention God or Jesus or anything like that!" They stopped at her locker. Naelia was very quiet, seething. Helen was quiet as well, and let the girl take a moment to calm down. She waited until she stuffed her coat into the locker. Naelia never put any books in that locker. Thus explaining why her backpack gave her bruises on her shoulders.

Naelia started up the stairs, heading for the third floor, not waiting for Helen. She caught up anyway. "Those damn Christian missionary wannabes are gonna try to convert me... they'll tell me I'm wrong."

Helen stomped her foot down on the top stair. "No they won't! Our church isn't like that. Besides, are you strong in your own beliefs? Something like Satan is good and God is bad or whatever-ism?"

She stopped and faced the blonde. "That ain't it. The Bible was told from one perspec-"

She grabbed Naelia by the shoulders and shook her, forcing her to smile. "Whatevverrr!! Do you believe it?"

She chuckles softly, shook her head and looked up at her, much more calm now. "Yeah."

"Then there's nothing to worry about!" She smacked her shoulder. "Just come... please! I won't even bother you for a whole month if you come."

Naelia grinned. "Okay." She said that almost too happily.

Helen tightened her face and folded her arms. "You're mean."

"I know." They continued walking entering more hallways. It was less crowded upstairs. Naelia decided to change the subject. "What classes do you have this term?"

"Uhm... World History, then Advanced Honors 2-D Art," Helen continued as Naelia muttered a short curse at the words 'advanced honors'. They were always in competition. "...Choir, and Japanese 2. What about you?"

Naelia studied her hand where she had written her new schedule. "I have creative writing with Danielle... then Asian World, Intro. to 2-D Art, and College Curriculum Standard Japanese 4." This time, Helen winced. Naelia was satisfied with herself, smirking the whole way to Helen's classroom.

Helen waved. "Later."

"Ja mata, ne. (I'll see you later, huh?)" Naelia said, laughed a little laugh that she had developed over the year, and continued down the hallway headed for her own class. That laugh always was sort of conniving.

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Creative Writing

This teacher was a very large, gray haired man. He had a beard like Sean Connery's and he always wore a plaid shirt. Everyone called him 'lumberjack'. He was talking to some boys in the front of the room, and he told them that he was from Canada. The boys burst into laughter. As if that weren't enough, he always said 'eh.' He was the very epitome of stereotype.

Danielle, a dark girl with log curly hair and thick framed glasses, had already found a seat next to Naelia in the back of the room. They were best friends after all.

The bell rang and the class took a few golden moments to settle down and shut up. The teacher smiled and stood before the room. He looked too happy for his own good. He rocked on his heels once and spoke.

"Welcome to creative writing. I'm your teacher, Mister Johnson." He rocked again. "Now, I'll bet you all came in here expecting an easy A, eh?" The boys laughed again. It's funny how even upperclassmen can act like freshman sometimes. "Well, I hate to disappoint you all, but this class is not gong to be easy." He turned around and shuffled through some papers. "This might be another bummer, but uh… I've already got a handout for you guys." He walked down the front of the room, licking his fingers before selecting the amount of papers he needed for each row.

The paper read:

Welcome to Creative Writing. This will be your first Minnesota Grad Standard for the class. As it is required for each student to pass the Minnesota Grad Standard to pass the class, this assignment is very important. Do not lose this sheet.

Object: You must complete this paper before the end of the term. This must be in an essay form and must amount to 5 pages. Double spacing is not allowed and it must be typed in 12-Point Times New Roman font.

Subject: Student choice.

Mr. Johnson returned to the front-center of the room. She folded his hands behind his back and tilted up on his toes. "A paper…" He began. "About anything you desire. Today, I want you guys to start on an outline. Not too hard, eh? I'm going to go make copies of the paper for those of you who didn't get one. I'll be back, eh." He left the room and the students started to talk freely again.

Danielle leaned over and watched Naelia study the paper. "Thinking hard?" She asked. Naelia just nodded. "What are you gonna do yours on?"

Naelia shrugged. "I don't know, how about you?" She looked up and over at her best friend."

Danielle smiled. "My inspiration."

"Anne Bishop?" Naelia started scribbling something on her paper.

"Yeah." She leaned forward to see what her friend was scribbling. Another upside down pentacle. "Heh, freak."

Naelia stood and took a proud bow. "Thank you." She sat on her desktop. "You know, once I was arguing with Carol, you know, the kinda dorky girl? She was arguing with me about Christianity. I had 'Daughter of the Blood' in my hands and I told her it was the Bible of Satan in three parts and that Anne Bishop was a profit of Satan… then that I was… but hey."

Danielle giggled. "Anne Bishop is Wiccan I think. So what did she say?"

The redhead hunched forward, smirking. "Same thing everyone says to me. 'You're going to hell.' Except… she didn't say hell. I swear to God she hasn't grown up since second grade."

"Oh, heeheehee."

"I've got it!" She stood up again. "A paper. Anything I desire. I'll write about _my _beliefs! Then maybe someone will listen!" She nodded a little and scratched her chin. "I'll pass this easily.

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Hope you like it so far. Be patient for the next chapter.


	2. God's Mistake

"A Paper…" - Ch. 2: 

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Helen's House

It was 8:15 PM. At the MH Lutheran Church, youth group normally started at 9:00 PM on Mondays. Helen was growing more impatient for Naelia's call by the minute, pacing back and forth about the house. She gritted her teeth then snatched the phone off of the receiver. She dialed quickly and waited impatiently, tapping her foot. One ring… two rings… three rings… four… She growled, ready to hang up, and just then someone picked up on the other end.

"_Hello?_" The voice said.

"Oh, uh. Hello. Naelia's mom? This is Helen. Is Naelia home by chance?" She said in her sweetest voice.

There was a pause. "_Yeah, is this Helen?_"

"Mmhm."

"_Hold on. Nae'! Phooonnneee!_" The loud voice rang through the phone, seeming to pierce the air with an annoying noise. Helen immediately held the phone away from her ear. There was a click and a pause where only a steady, soft breathing could be heard. 

"_Got iiitttt!"_ Naelia shouted up to her mother, also sending a loud buzzing noise through the phone. 

Helen held it away again. She brought it back to her ear after a few seconds. "Geez! Hello? Naelia?"

"_Yeah? Who's this?_" She sounded puzzled.

Helen narrowed her eyes. "Oh, no one. Just your ride to church! My dad's getting impatient. Be waiting, okay?"

"_Shit, already?_" There was a pause. "_Shit…_"

"Don't worry. It'll be fun! See you in a few minutes." She slammed the phone down before Naelia could sputter some excuse or something to not go. She always did that. Even when she just wanted to hang out on a friendly occasion. 

Helen ran back to the living room. "Dad, we can go now."

"About time." He said, sounding more than moody. "Go get in the car. I'll be out in a minute."

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Naelia's House

"You're going to church!?" Naelia's mom practically screamed. "Finally, how long has it been?"

"A year, mom." Naelia said, annoyed.

Her mom got her coat for her and threw it over her. "Maybe you should wear something nicer. This is so exciting!"

Naelia was silent for a moment. "You're acting weird."

"One year… You haven't lost faith yet, have you?

Naelia turned and pulled the door open, letting the cool winter air into the house. She made a little face and lied, flat out. "Hardly."

"Good."

_I could never tell my mother the way I feel towards God. I've felt this way ever since Dad died and a girl named Christy purposely set out to make my life a living hell. _

People always tell stories of how God saved them from a worse life. I find it somewhat ironic that my life was much better before I got involved with the MH Church and God. It's as if that were the trigger to the gun facing my happiness. 

Coincidentally, my dad died when I was at last year's MH Lutheran Church retreat. I didn't blame God or religion because a woman at the retreat told me that if I lost faith, things would only get worse. So I didn't lose faith. I thought I'd become stronger. Then came the spider, Christy. She and I were friends since 8th grade, but one day, I'm not sure what I did to deserve this, she told all of her friends that I was a maniacal bitch. She took away my crush just so she could use him for his money, and publicly humiliated me by telling him the biggest secret I'd ever shared with her.

I prayed and prayed for all the hurt to just go away. I sliced myself, trying to kill myself. I think I died for a moment. You've heard it before – when people die, they see that light which is supposedly heaven at the other end of the tunnel. Well, I was in a tunnel, but there was no white light for me, despite that I tried hard to sustain a relationship with God. There was, however, a strange maroon light. It was pulsating like a strobe light. Before I reached it, I woke up and puked out at least half of the guts that make up a human being. 

That's when I knew God didn't want me, but that little maroon light… someone did. I got to thinking about the Bible and God and his nemesis, or character foil, Satan. Satan's the other deity. He's supposed to represent evil, but in all fairness, the fallen angel wasn't given a chance to tell his side of the story. I understood that. Christy's stories were the only stories to the rest of the school. Mine didn't matter because she had already told her side first. Basically, she had followers first. I, like Satan, didn't get a say, and no one was willing to listen.

The Bible was written from God's perspective. It was his side of the story. What ever happened to Satan's? In the Bible, it says God is the very entity of good on Earth. I guess that explains why… wars… start… in his name. Forgive me, I strayed from the subject. Later on, the Bible continues to say Satan is the very opposite of God. He's the bad guy. If you think of God and Satan as normal people, which I'm sure they are in some sense, they're like your everyday bickering children. I think they hate each other and God decided to make Satan look bad by telling some human shmuck to write some less than friendly things about him. Besides, even in the Bible it says that Satan is for man, and God is for God. I hate selfish people.

I know it sounds crazy, but I've always been one to root for the underdog. I feel like this guy, Satan, he can take care of me. He can watch over me. He can keep the hurt away from me. He already got Christy to leave me alone when I made a prayer to him instead of God. He can save me. He's just as good AND as bad as God is. We all have our faults -- even the Almighty Creator.

The headlights turned into Naelia's driveway. Her father honked the horn to get the red head girl out of the house. Just to make him mad, she walked slowly, forcing him to honk several more times. She finally got to the car, opened the door, and got it.

__

Helen's dad listens to Christian music. It's gonna be a long ride there…

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MH Lutheran Church

The very minute they walked into the church, Helen led Naelia to the game room. At every youth group meeting, the first order of operations was a game. The best part for Naelia was that it was always somewhat violent but it didn't hurt at the same time. It could make one feel invincible. Bruises were never a really a serious situation anyway. That's all you _could_ get from these games, unlike school games in gym class. Everyone could take bruises. However, before she had ever first attended the church, someone had broken an arm during a game. Naelia never met him, but she always kept out of 'capture the flag' just because of that little story.

The game hadn't started yet. It was still early and—

"Naelia!!" The twins ran to the redhead and hugged her tightly, squeezing the breath out of her. 

She laughed breathlessly. "Hey. Long time---" They squeezed tighter, causing her to gasp. "—n-no see… pehh…"

"Helen told us you're a Satanist or something." Mary said. Julie elbowed her. 

"It's still nice to see you again." Julie added, trying to cover for her sister.

Naelia smiled bitterly. "I'm not a Satanist. I just think the Bible is biased."

Helen, Mary and Julie all raised their fingers to their mouths. "Not here. Don't say that here."

Her temper frayed. "Why the hell not? Helen told me no one would care!"

Helen began to back away and the twins just stared at her. They both said at once, "She said _what?_" Helen just laughed nervously.

"K-Kind of gullible… aren't you?" Helen hesitated. "It was the only way I could get you to come." She pleaded. This only made Naelia's temper rise and face turn red. She moved away from the group for a moment to fume. After what seemed like an eternity, she went and sat on the lounge couch, outwardly refusing to speak with Helen. Helen laughed nervously again.

Hallway (Outside of the song room)

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By the time they were halfway through the first song, Naelia had already left. It didn't help that she was still mad at Helen, but she was hearing the most annoying music imaginable. It reminded her of that church retreat about a year ago. At that retreat, there was always a religious meeting where everyone would get together to sing and pray. Ugh, she hated it. Yes, it was then that everything started…

She had been sitting -- instead of standing like everyone else. Counselors always tried to urge her to stand but she wouldn't. She _was_ strong in her faith back then – she just didn't want to stand for a full two hours. That's when someone called her out of that little church house. The woman told her the most terrifying news a teenager could ever hear. 'Your father…' Already, the way that was said would worry someone enough to give them a heart attack. '…got in an accident.'

Naelia snapped out of her little daydream, unaware that a hot tear was rolling down her cheek. She looked up as the singing went on in the other room. "You have a lot of fans don't you?" She let out a little chuckle as she caught a few lyrics from the song. "Pretty conceited, aren't you? Hm? Heh. Mountains bow down and the sea will roar at the sound of your name. I'd like to see that happen." She just shook her head and sat at a bench. "'Least Satan doesn't make up shit to get respect."

"Naelia! How nice to see you!" A voice came from down the hall.

Naelia looked up. _Great… the bearer of all good news. The woman who told me my father was dead._

"I haven't seen you for almost a year! How are things at home?" She approached Naelia.

"Shi-" Naelia caught herself. "Fine."

"How have you and your mother been dealing with your father's death?" She sat on the bench next to her.

Naelia waved a hand. "I try to forget it."

The woman sighed and looked off into another direction. "Naelia… you should always remember it."

Naelia raised her eyebrow and looked away, mouthing. 'shut up, bitch.' She jumped when the woman took her hands and grasped them. "Uh…"

"Dear heavenly father, I pray you guide Naelia through these hard times and help her to become stronger, both in faith and-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" She pulled her hands away. "Don't pray. Please."

"But prayer is how we communicate with the lord."

Naelia moved away from the bench. "You'd think if he was so great, he'd hear you without having you fold your hands and close your eyes."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "What? Are you feeling all right?" She put a hand to Naelia's forehead. At that, Naelia jumped up off of the bench and snapped loudly.

"I feel just fine, no thanks to you! Why the hell do you bring up things that hurt, huh?"

She stood as well, reaching out for Naelia. "Hey… I just want to help."

The red head smacked away the woman's hand. "I'm _trying _to get over it, and this whole damn Christian… Lutheran… whatever…. thing!"

"Naelia. Oh Lord… You, you can't just quit religion. It's what you're born with. The Lord made you that way."

She took a big step back. "Ugh! Forget you! Forget the Lord! I was a mistake of God's, all right!?" She growled and rushed up the stairs onto the second floor. She squatted onto the ground, biting her sleeve. She sat there cursing at herself for losing her cool, hoping this wouldn't cause any problems for her here tonight. 

Meanwhile, the woman contacted the other youth group leaders and told them everything that had just happened. This was definitely a problem.


End file.
